Preacher David's Corner

Ashe Baptist Association Summertime

I am thankful that it is Summertime in Ashe County! Summertime is the warmest time of the year, in the U.S. and is typically considered to be the months of June, July and August. The hot months when kids are out of school alerts us that it summertime. It is now the season of summer. I love the warmer weather and the cool rain showers and the rainbows that God provides for all of us. Mowing grass and planting flowers is a great stress reliever for me, something about being back to nature! So glad COVID is behaving itself at this time and folks are doing miraculous things to protect us from the disease. Vacation Bible Schools are happening in the churches. What does vacation Bible school mean? It’s a weekday program of Christian education for children and adults featuring religious study courses, arts and crafts, and recreation conducted by local Christian churches for one or more weeks during the summer vacation. — called also Daily Vacation Bible School. The origin of Vacation Bible School can be traced back to Hopedale, Illinois in 1894. Sunday school teacher D. T. Miles, who also was a public school teacher, felt she was limited by time constraints in teaching the Bible to children. So, she started a daily Bible school to teach children during the summer. Today churches are meeting for Sunday School and Worship inside the building and we are seeing folks being saved and being baptized! “Fill the Tank” is a rally call to encourage folks to be baptized. The newly elected executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSCNC) is calling on N.C. Baptist churches to “Fill the Tank” on Sunday, Sept. 12, as part of a statewide emphasis on baptism. Just two days after being elected as the state convention’s top executive, Todd Unzicker announced the initiative in his first address to the BSCNC’s board of directors during the board’s regularly scheduled May meeting. “We’re going to fill the tanks and believe by faith that God is going to save people between now and that day,” Unzicker said. Revivals are being held once again and we certainly are in need of being revived! Revival refers to a spiritual reawakening from a state of dormancy or stagnation in the life of a believer. It encompasses the resurfacing of a love for God, an appreciation of God’s holiness, a passion for His Word and His church, a convicting awareness of personal and corporate sin, a spirit of humility, and a desire for repentance and growth in righteousness. It is a historic fact that God has brought redemption to great amounts of people through revival. The 135 Annual Meeting of the Ashe Baptist Association is part of Summer as well. ( August 20-21). The Annual Meeting is a time of revival. Our theme this year is “Be ye Encouraged!” I am praying and looking forward to a great meeting again this year. I enjoy being home outside on the patio at night with my wife, Linda, and feeling the cool breeze and hearing all types of sounds unheard during most of the day. God provides an orchestra if we will take time to listen especially in the Summertime! Clearing our mind to allow the Holy Spirit of God to speak to us enhances our relationship with him. I hope and pray that you are enjoying Summertime and that you will allow God to lead you as never before to help folks to become a Christian and to disciple them to make other disciples. Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time." —John Lubbock—Enjoy your Summer in the coolest corner of North Carolina, Ashe County!

Your Servant, David